Index Archive

16 September 2017

USA History Facts About the Pledge of Allegiance to Flag
The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister in Boston who was prominent in the Christian Socialist movement of the time.

Bellamy was also an official in the National Education Association, the teachers' union, and he created the Pledge as part of a school flag-raising ceremony to mark the 400th anniversary of Columbus' arrival in America.

Original Words written by Francis Bellamy –

I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

The first draft of the Pledge was published in the Sept. 8, 1892, issue of The Youth's Companion, a popular family magazine.

Daniel Ford, the Companion's publisher, had hired Bellamy after Bellamy had been forced from the pulpit for his socialist sermons.

The Pledge was reprinted on leaflets and distributed nationwide, with later versions repeating the preposition "to" before "the Republic." Twelve million schoolchildren recited it for the first time one month later on Columbus Day, October 12, 1892.

From that point on, the Pledge was used by schoolchildren to salute the flag, though only in an unofficial capacity for several decades.

The original gesture when reciting the Pledge was not the current right hand held over the heart, but the "Roman salute" — a movement of the right hand away from the heart until it pointed away from the body. That fell out of favor when the Fascists in Italy and later the Nazis in Germany adopted the same salute.

In its original version, the pledge read "my flag" instead of "the flag of the United States." the change in the wording was adopted by the National Flag Conference in 1923. The rationale for the change was that it prevented ambiguity among foreign-born children and adults who might have the flag of their native land in mind when reciting the pledge.
Year 1923- The Pledge now read as follows –

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

on December 22, 1942, the amended Flag Code was passed, Section 7 of which decreed that the Pledge of Allegiance should "be rendered by standing with the right hand over the heart."

In World War II, the salute too much resembled the Nazi salute, so it was changed to keep the right hand over the heart throughout. In 1942, soon after America entered World War II, Congress officially endorsed the Pledge of Allegiance and instituted the current hand-over-heart gesture. One year later, however, the Supreme Court ruled that schoolchildren could not be forced to recite the Pledge.

In 1954, under pressure from the Knights of Columbus and other religious groups, Congress officially added the words "under God" to the Pledge, so that it currently reads:

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Pledge Meaning -
1. A solemn binding promise to do, give, or refrain from doing something:
signed a pledge never to reveal the secret;
2-Something given or held as security to guarantee payment of a debt or fulfillment of an obligation.
3-Delivery of goods or personal property as security for a debt or obligation: a loan requiring a pledge of property.
4-A vow to abstain from liquor or smoking
5- To offer or guarantee by a solemn binding promise: pledge loyalty to a nation; pledge that the duties of the office will be fulfilled.
6- To make a solemn binding promise; swear.
Synonyms = promise

2- Allegiance Meaning -
Loyalty or the obligation of loyalty, as to a nation, sovereign, or cause
the loyalty of citizens to their government.
loyalty or devotion to some person, group, cause, or the like.
synonyms: loyalty · faithfulness · fidelity · obedience · homage · devotion · fealty · troth